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Technology Needs Assessment

In this assignment, you will determine what resources are available to you and your students. You will have to contact people to get the information you need. People that may be helpful can include your media specialist, technology integration specialist, resource teachers, special education teachers, or department heads. It may be beneficial to create a survey using Google Forms and distribute it to your staff. We are working to determine what your school currently has and to assess its needs for future technology. This needs assessment will help us in creating our technology plan which will layout the technology goals for our school over the next few years.

|SCHOOL POPULATION |

|Location: Westport Middle School is located in the east end of Jefferson County in Kentucky. |

|Enrollment: 913 students (2013-2014 school year); 1100 students currently |

|Staff & Administration: 1 Principal, 3 Assistant Principals (Plus 1 clerk), 3 Counselors, 1 Youth Service Center Coordinator (plus 2 |

|assistants), 1 Athletic Director, 1 Librarian/Technology Coordinator (plus 1 clerk), 1 Goal Clarity Coach, 1 Transition Island Coordinator, |

|1 Special Education Resource Teacher, 1 Math Resource Teacher, 1 Language Arts Resource Teacher, 1 Behavior Coach, 1 Attendance Clerk, 1 |

|Bookkeeper, 2 Secretaries, 1 Data Manager, 1 Records Clerk, 15 Regular and Special Education Assistants, 61 Regular Education Teachers, 13 |

|Special Education Teachers |

|TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES AVAILABLE |

|What does your school have available to students to further their learning? |Current # |Need # |

|2 Computer Labs – HP Computers |55 |9 |

|1 Library/Media Center |35 |0 |

|Staff Computers (HP Elitebooks) |110 |3 |

|IPADS |57 |17 |

|Chrome Book Cart (15 Chrombooks available for daily checkout) |15 |17 |

|Document Cameras |20 |10 |

|Smart Clickers (6 sets to check out from media center) |6 |0 |

|Smart Boards |30 |6 |

|Chrome Books (located in classrooms) |83 |39 |

|IPAD cart (15 to check out from media center) |15 on cart |17 on cart |

|Projectors |80 |0 |

|Printers (Black and white only) |15 |5 |

|Color Printers |3 |0 |

|Desktops (most teachers have 2 in a classroom) |100 |0 |

|Wireless Slates |10 |0 |

Adaptive/Assistive Technology List all adaptive/assistive technology available at your school. You may need to contact someone within the school or district that is an expert in this area. After listing what you have and your recommendations, you must address all 7 types of learning disabilities listed in this site. Please identify the disabilities.

|Devices/software/applications/websites |Disability |Cost |

|WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE: |

|DEVICES | | |

|Go Talks Portable Communication Devices: Teachers can record messages that they match to pictures. |Aphasia, Dysphasia |$200 |

|Students use device to communicate by selecting a picture that is linked to a recorded message. |or Global Aphasia | |

| |(language-based) | |

|Audible Personal Amplifier: Helps reduce background noise so student can focus on one on one |Central Processing |$50 |

|conversations. |Disorder | |

|Jumbo Vision Talking Calculators: Talks to students while they type in problems. |Dyscalculia and |$24.95 |

| |Vision | |

|ListenPoint System: Reduces noise in the classroom so students can focus on teacher directions. |Hearing, Central |$1400 |

| |Processing Disorder | |

|IPAD: The IPAD is used in conjunction with all the apps listed below. Students use the IPAD to |ALL |$800 |

|magnify text, take notes, record notes, and compete projects. The apps also allow them to practice | | |

|reading, math, and writing skills. | | |

|NOTE: The district has access to much more than we have in the building. If we need anything, we just|NA |NA |

|contact our district coordinator and they get it for us. | | |

|IPAD APPS | | |

|Storybuider: Helps build paragraph formation using extensive use of video clips. |Visual Processing |$7.99 |

| |Disorder | |

|Dragon Dictation: Students speak notes and it writes it for them. Notes are emailed to teachers. |Dysgraphia |FREE |

|Evernote: Students create voice recorded notes and it organizes their information. |Dysgraphia |FREE |

|Dexteria: Used as a therapy tool to help students build up fine motor skills. |Dysgraphia |$3.99 |

|SoundLiteracy: Students use the program to help them distinguish sounds and develop spelling |Dyslexia |$24.99 |

|strategies. | | |

|Dyslexia Quest: Students play games that help them build memory, phonics skills, processing speed, and|Dyslexia |$1.99 |

|sequencing. | | |

|Talking Calculator: Used right now by visually impaired students and students with dyscalculia. |Dyscalculia |$4.99 |

|Allows students to have a visual as well as an auditory cue. | | |

|Stories2Learn: The app personalizes stories by uploading pictures and audio to help the student |NonVerbal Learning |$13.99 |

|navigate common social situations. |Disorders | |

|SOFTWARE | | |

|Read, Write Gold: Provides reading support for struggling readers (ex: text to speech, screen shot |ALL |$645 |

|reader, picture dictionary) | | |

|Boardmaker: Used to create symbol-adapted books, flash cards, schedules customized to each student |Aphasia, Dysphasia |$749 |

|depending on their skills. |or Global Aphasia | |

| |(language-based) | |

|Symbolstix: Stick figure representations of verbal cues. Stick figures allow students to focus on the |Multiple |$360 |

|cues without being distracted by details. Also, used to help students strengthen writing skills by | | |

|mirroring the work with the symbol. | | |

|Cobra 10: Provides large print magnification and speech output. |Vision |$849 |

|(CPC) Close Caption and Subtitling Software: Creates subtitles for videos so they can read what is |Hearing |$1095 |

|being said in the video. | | |

|WEBSITES | | |

|Learning Ally: Students obtain audio books form this site. |Dyslexia |FREE |

|RECOMMENDATIONS (10 minimum ) | | |

|DEVICES | | |

|SmartPens: Can record what the student is hearing and writing. Can be download so that they can |Dyscalculia and |$119.95 |

|organize notes. |Central Processing | |

| |Disorder | |

|IPAD APPS | | |

|Math Pentagon: Allows students to write with their finger/stylus to work through problems and provides|Dyscalculia |$9.99 per month |

|additional supports. | | |

|openWeb: Converts online text to more readable format. |Dyslexia |FREE |

|Typ-O: Helps students when typing with word prediction and spelling. |Dysgraphia |$14.99 |

|Sentence Builder: Helps students build sentences by color coding important parts. |Dysgraphia |$5.99 |

|What are they thinking?: Builds social language. Helps students with inferences, conversation skills, |Non-Verbal Learning |$19.99 |

|and reasoning skills. |Disorder | |

|Behavior Tracker Pro: Tracks behaviors and graphs them. Can be downloaded to Exel. |Non-Verbal Learning |$29.99 |

| |Disorder | |

|SOFTWARE | | |

|DraftBuilder: Breaks down writing process into easy steps. |Non-Verbal Learning |$81 |

| |Disorder | |

|WEBSITES | | |

|Do2 Learn: Comprehensive sight for special needs resources. It has songs, games, picture cards, and |ALL |FREE (some |

|other activities. | |products you can|

| | |choose to buy) |

Distance Learning

|School Website: |

| Contains school calendar, announcements of school, staff and student recognition, weekly message |

|from the principal, page containing daily student created news videos, teacher contact information, information on Montessori magnet |

|program, information regarding sports and academic clubs; Library and PTSA news, links to school Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, |

|counseling corner (anti-bullying, peer mediation, high school applications), student pages, parent page (lunch menu, bus finder, SBDM, link |

|to Parent Portal) |

| |

|The website is updated daily with important announcements. Parents and students do use the website to find out about upcoming events. |

|School Website recommended additions or changes: |

|Teacher websites are no longer linked from the school website. Teachers were not utilizing the provided website engine (eChalk), so the |

|school discontinued their subscription. I suggest surveying the teachers and creating a new teacher website page that links all teacher |

|websites from the school website. Also, I would like to see more information about each teacher. I suggest adding pictures of teacher and |

|a biography. |

|Teacher Websites: |

|Only 10% of the staff currently use a website. Those teachers update their website at least on a weekly basis. The teachers that use a |

|website, use it to post homework, project information, help, and due dates. The teachers primarily use wiki but 2 of the teachers use |

|Weebly. |

|Teacher Website Recommendations: |

|10% website usage is way too low. I would like to see 50% of our staff use websites over the next year. Some are scared of the technology.|

|They have tried the old “eChalk” system we had and felt it won’t user friendly. I suggest teachers use Weebly because it is so simple to |

|use and is very attractive to users. In order to meet 50% usage, training is very important. The technology committee at our school will |

|offer training and help teachers set up their webpages. Also, teachers who do use websites can provide support. I would like to see |

|teachers updating their websites at least weekly (preferably daily). Simple help tips or reminders will keep students looking of teacher |

|websites as well as other classroom information. |

Learning Management Systems

|CURRENT |COST |

|Edmodo: Currently 7% of teachers are using Edmodo for assignments, quizzes, and online discussions |FREE |

|Artsonia: Used by art teachers where students submit their art projects to make an online gallery. |FREE |

|RECOMMENDATIONS: | |

|I would like to see more teachers using Edmodo (50% over the next year). Teachers need to be trained on how to use it|FREE |

|and teams to decide to use it as a tool that they all use. That way students and teachers will get used to using it. | |

Software Available

|SOFTWARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (20 MINIMUM) |

|PRODUCTIVITY/INSTRUCTION |

|Microsoft Office 2013 |

| |

|Word: Used to document assignments. Teachers create assignments using Word and students submit some assignments in Word. |

| |

|Excel: Used by students in science to analyze data. Students learn how to use the application in computer class. Used by teachers to |

|analyze Smart Response and CASCADE data. |

| |

|PowerPoint: Used by teachers to present information to students during daily lessons. Students also use it to create presentations for |

|projects. Students also learn how to use it during computer class. |

|Dropbox: Teachers use it manage and share files between departments |

|Lego Mindstorms: Used by Robotics teacher for robotics classes. |

|Team Viewer: Teachers download it to go along with their Team View IPAD application which allows the IPAD to take over your computer. |

|This allows teachers to walk around the room and control their computer with IPAD. |

|Java: Used mostly by science and math teachers to run online math and science simulations that require JAVA |

|Ladibug: Downloaded by teachers who have Ladibug document cameras. The software is required to use the document camera. |

|Smart Math Tools: Math teachers use this add on to Smart Notebook to create equations and integrate interactive math tools into their |

|lessons. |

|Smart Notebook: Teachers who have a SmartBoard use this software to create interactive lessons |

|Print Artist: Front office uses it to create fliers, posters, etc. |

|ASSESSMENT |

|JCPS eSchool program: Used our Transition Island coordinator to help students who are failing |

|Kuta Software: Math teachers use this program to generate quizzes and worksheets. |

|Smart Response: Smart Notebook add on applications used by teachers to collect assessment data usually as exit slips or formative |

|assessments |

|WEB BROWERS |

|Google Chrome: Used by 9% of staff |

|Firefox: Used by 1% of staff |

|Internet explorer: Used by 90% of staff |

|MULTIMEDIA |

|Celestia: 1 of the sixth grade science teachers uses Celestia software to teach astronomy. |

|Windows Media Player: Plays United Streaming videos |

|Itunes: To play music on computer from Itunes account |

|QuickTime Player: Alternate player for school podcast |

|Pixlr: Used by art teachers to edit images |

|HandBrake: 4 of the science teachers and 2 social studies teachers use HandBrake to download CD/DVD files to their computers. |

|Smart Notebook: Teachers are using the record feature to make videos of them working in SmartNotebook which they post on Facebook for |

|students to review. |

|MANAGEMENT |

|Infinite Campus: Infinite Campus application is used for attendance, tracking parent contacts and grades. We are using the online version|

|this year. |

|A B Tutor: This software is used on all JCPS student computers to remotely control JCPS desktops/laptops from a central PC. |

|Administrators can power up/down PC’s, control PC functions (such as USB port access, and control application usage. It also blocks |

|websites and application downloads. |

|SCHOOL MANAGEMENT/SECURITY |

|Infinite Campus is the only school management software used: Each role (assistant principal, principal, teacher, counselor, etc. has a |

|section of the software they can use. We are currently using the online version of this tool. |

|Software Recommendations (A survey asking staff this question would be helpful) |Cost $ |

|We are up to date with our Microsoft suite and the staff is pleased with the version of Windows. | |

|Adobe Illustrator: Art classes to teach graphic design, and front office to create marketing materials. |$225 |

|ToonBoom: Many teachers requested animation software to integrate technology into their classroom. ToonBoom Studio is great|$249 |

|because it goes across curriculum, and uses annotation layers so teachers can provide feedback without interfering with | |

|student work. | |

|Screencast O Matic: I recommend teachers using Screencast O Matic instead of Smart Notebook to record tutorial videos. The |FREE |

|SmartNotebook recorder only works in Smart Notebook software, so everything you need for the video has to be put into that | |

|software. However, Screencast will record what you are going in any program. | |

|Adobe Photoshop: Art teachers really want a photo editing software program. |$99 |

Online Resources

|CURRENT ONLINE RESOURCES AVAILABLE: (15 minimum) |

|Collaboration between students or staff: |

|Poll Everywhere: Used to collect information from staff and students. |

|Today’s Meet: Students and teachers post comments on webpage for all to view. |

|Email: Primary source of contact between staff members. Emails are sent daily to staff members pertaining to important school |

|information. |

|Edmodo: Students communicate via discussion board posts. |

|Disseminate Information: |

|eChalk: There is a password protected section of our school website that is used to share information between staff members. Meeting |

|minutes, technology scheduling calendars, professional development information and other important school information is shared amongst |

|staff in this location. |

|Wiki and Weebly: Teacher web pages are updated with help documents, videos and websites. Also, assignment information is posted. |

|Research: |

|History: Teachtci (online textbook, webinars) |

|History: (used by social studies teachers to have students research their heritage) |

|Math: Carnegie Learning (help videos/tutorials that accompanies textbook) |

|Science: FOSS Web (simulations, worksheets, activities that support JCPS supplied science modules ) |

|English: Read A-Z (provides leveled readings and activities to support projects) |

|Art: National Gallery of Art (largest art gallery in the world) |

|All Subjects: NewsELA (provides leveled current event articles) |

|Assessment: |

|TenMarks: Used by math teachers to provide online assessments with progress, performance and trend reporting |

|CIITS: Provided by Kentucky Departments of Education. Teachers can make assessments by choosing test items from a bank of questions that |

|are aligned to Common Core Standards. |

|Cascade: District assessments are located here. Teachers download tests and answer sheets here and upload results. Results can be |

|downloaded to Excel for analysis. Some teachers also create custom assessments here. |

|Multimedia: |

|MangaHigh: Math teachers can assign games, videos, and practice to each student’s level |

|MobyMax: Language arts and math tutorials and progress monitoring available |

|Success Maker: District subscribes struggling math and reading students as need. Success Maker is a digital curriculum that provides |

|supports for struggling math and reading students. |

|YouTube: Teachers create and upload videos to YouTube. They also show other YouTube videos within presentations. |

|Study Island: District subscribes students as needed to Study Island, which provides videos, tutorials, practice problems and |

|explanations. |

|Recommendations: (10 minimum) | |

|Collaboration between students or staff: |COST |

|Kid Blog (Teacher Premium): Students can safely blog on topics as teachers monitor. |$35 per year|

|Disseminate Information: |

|Weebly: Teachers have abandoned their websites. I would like to see teachers create websites using Weebly since it is very |FREE |

|user friendly and appealing to the end user. | |

|Remind101: I was surprised to learn that no teams are using Remind101 to contact parents. I suggest teams use Remind101 for |FREE |

|quick notifications that are timely. | |

|Smore: Parents continually complain that they don’t know what is going on in the school. So I suggest teams have a weekly |FREE |

|newsletter. Smore is a great online newletter that can be emailed or posted on a team/teacher website. It is a great place | |

|to pull together all team information so parents don’t have to search different websites. | |

|Facebook: Another great way to keep parents and students informed and engaged in the classroom is to upload pictures and |FREE |

|videos of interesting things that are going on in the classroom. I suggest teams/teachers set up a Facebook page to post | |

|pictures and videos of students doing creative things in the school. | |

|Research: |

|Math: IXL --- Has extensive activities and reporting aligned to common core standards. Free version only allows a few |$249 per |

|practice problems per day. |class |

|History: Kidsclick! –Links to expansive history information—biographies, stories, geography. Also, lets kids know the |FREE |

|reading level and availability of pictures. | |

|Science: PhET—Online simulations for various science standards. Also, teachers upload lessons to support the simulation. |FREE |

|Language Arts: Voicethread: I recommend language arts teachers use Voicethread when working with students on verbal |FREE |

|standards. Students can collaborate on projects/topics as well. | |

|Art: Drawball – Online canvas, where students can draw on one part while others around the world draw on all the other |FREE |

|sections. Great for collaboration! | |

|Assessment: |

|Gradecam: Teachers can create answer sheets for multiple choice questions on the website. Then students can get instant |FREE |

|feedback by scanning their answers via a webcam which will help them fix their mistakes and master the learning target. | |

|Multimedia: |

|Prezi: Teachers are not using Prezi which can be more appealing to students than PowerPoint. |FREE |

|Wevideo: Wevideo is a video editing website that allows students to collaborate on a project. There is a free version, but |$49.99 per |

|it is small storage and has the companies watermark on the videos. I suggest the paid version to get more space and |year |

|customizing tools. | |

|Mindomo: Students can use to create authentic products while teachers can make interactive mind maps to introduce content to |FREE |

|students. | |

INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY

|As technology changes and advances over time, we as teachers need to stay current with the changes to best reach our learners. In this |

|part of the needs assessment we need to evaluate our current use of technology and offer recommendations for improvement. |

|TECHNOLOGY USED FOR INSTRUCTION |

|CURRENT |RECOMENDATION |

|Teachers primarily use PowerPoint presentations to present videos, |Teachers use Prezi to create presentations. |

|pictures, and website links. | |

| |Teachers use screencasts and post on Edmodo and/or teacher websites |

|At times they use DVD/CD’s to present multimedia images and |for flipping the classroom. |

|interactive tutorials. | |

| |Teachers use more interactive websites and apps instead of worksheets.|

|Some teachers use SmartNotebook to create more interactive | |

|activities | |

| |Teachers utilize their websites by including help websites and videos |

|Teachers use a variety of instruction methods: whole class, group |as well as links to assignment directions and rubrics. |

|work, partner, and individual work time. | |

| |Teachers use online assessments to get automatic feedback. |

|Most assignments are printed out and given to students. However, | |

|some teachers during group assignments, will integrate IPADs and | |

|Chromebooks. They don’t have enough equipment to do this on a | |

|large scale or at a high frequency. | |

|COLLABORATION OR COMMUNICATION |

|Students work in partners or groups to complete some assignments. |Students can discuss topics in Edmodo. |

| | |

|Teachers hold Socratic Circles or discourse sessions to allow |Students can collaborate using blogs. |

|students to exchange information. | |

| |Students can respond to teacher prompt or each other’s work on |

|The few teachers that use Edmodo, allow students to discuss |Voicethread. |

|assignments on the message board. | |

| | |

|The Art teachers allow students to upload artwork to an online art | |

|gallery. | |

|STUDENT PRODUCTS THAT DISPLAY UNDERSTANDING OF COURSE CONTENT |

|Students use written journals in each of their classes to record |Students can create animation to demonstrate a concept. |

|observations, thoughts, drafts, data, analysis, etc. | |

| |Students can use edited videos to show their understanding. |

|Students answer an extended response question, complete closed | |

|readings, and complete activities that generally have a written |Students can create speaking avatars to communicate their |

|component to accompany it (ex: card sorting activity with a written|understanding. |

|explanation of what they understood) | |

| |Students utilize their Google accounts to create and save electronic |

|Some teachers use product menus. Most of the products are paper |products instead of saving on thumb drives. |

|based: brochures, children’s books, posters, mobiles, etc. | |

|However, some products are electronic: PowerPoint, ComicLife, |Students can create dynamic multimedia experiences instead of simple |

|videos |presentations. (Mindomo) |

|TEACHER PRODUCTIVITY AND ORGANIZATION |

|Most teachers still use a lesson plan book that they keep on their |I would like to have teachers move towards online lesson plans that |

|desk throughout the year and turn into the office at the end of the|they can share and access wherever they are. Google drive is a great |

|year. |place to store and share. Also, we have OneDrive available. |

| |Also, I want to get more teachers to organize lessons and help on |

|Other teachers are moving to electronic work plans (created in |either Edmodo or a teacher website (or both). That way teachers and |

|Word). |students can easily obtain the resources they need. |

| | |

|Students turn in work into class trays in teacher classrooms. |Again, if teachers use Edmodo, students can send assignments |

|Teachers who use Edmodo, allow students to turn in some assignments|electronically to the teacher instead of printing it out and giving it|

|in Edmodo. If a student creates an electronic product for a |to the teacher. |

|project, they generally email it to the teacher. | |

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